
Biography
Barbara Joan 'Barbra' Streisand (born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awarded an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (EGOT). With sales exceeding 150 million records worldwide, she is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), she is the second highest-certified female artist in the United States, with 68.5 million certified album units. Billboard ranked her as the greatest female artist on the Billboard 200 chart and the top Adult Contemporary female artist of all time. Her accolades include two Academy Awards, 10 Grammy Awards including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and the Grammy Legend Award, five Emmy Awards, four Peabody Awards, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and nine Golden Globes. She began her career by performing in nightclubs and Broadway theaters in the early 1960s. Following her guest appearances on various television shows, she signed to Columbia Records, insisting that she retain full artistic control, and accepting lower pay in exchange, an arrangement that continued throughout her career, and released her debut The Barbra Streisand Album (1963), which won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Throughout her recording career, she has topped the US Billboard 200 chart with 11 albums—a record for a woman—including People (1964), The Way We Were (1974), Guilty (1980), and The Broadway Album (1985). She also achieved five number-one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100—"The Way We Were", "Evergreen", "You Don't Bring Me Flowers", "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)", and "Woman in Love". Following her established recording success in the 1960s, she ventured into film by the end of that decade. She starred in the critically acclaimed Funny Girl (1968), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Additional fame followed with films including the extravagant musical Hello, Dolly! (1969), the screwball comedy What's Up, Doc? (1972), and the romantic drama The Way We Were (1973). She won a second Academy Award for writing the love theme from A Star Is Born (1976), the first woman to be honored as a composer. With the release of Yentl (1983), she became the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major studio film. The film won an Oscar for Best Score and a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Musical. She also received the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, becoming the first (and for 37 years, the only) woman to win that award. She later directed The Prince of Tides (1991) and The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996).
Awards & recognition
- Presidential Medal of Freedom · 2015
- MusiCares Person of the Year · 2011
- California Hall of Fame · 2010
- AFI Life Achievement Award · 2001
- Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award · 1995
Show all 25 awards →
- Grammy Legend Award · 1992
- Crystal Award · 1984
- Academy Award — Best Original Song · 1977
- Academy Award — Best Actress · 1969
- Daytime Emmy Award
- honorary doctor of Brandeis University
- Honorary Palme d'Or
- Kennedy Center Honors
- Library of Congress Living Legend
- National Medal of Arts
- Officer of the Legion of Honour
- Primetime Emmy Award
- star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
- Academy Award — Best Original Song · 1997 · nominated
- Academy Award — Best Picture · 1992 · nominated
- Golden Raspberry Award — Worst Actor · 1984 · nominated
- Golden Raspberry Award — Worst Actress · 1982 · nominated
- Academy Award — Best Actress · 1974 · nominated
- Academy Award — Best Actress · 1969 · nominated
- Tony Award — Best Actress in a Musical · 1964 · nominated
Filmography50+ titles

Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did For Love

Barbra Streisand: Timeless - Live in Concert

Modern Family

Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music

Disclosure

Tony Bennett: An American Classic

The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart

Miami Vice

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

Sid & Judy

Bergman: A Year in a Life

What's Up, Doc?

Sidney

Clint Eastwood: The Last Legend

Babenco: Tell Me When I Die

Funny Girl

Barbra: The Music... The Mem'ries... The Magic!

Six by Sondheim

One Night Only: Barbra Streisand and Quartet at the Village Vanguard

The Director's Chair

The Way We Were

Hello, Dolly!

What's My Line?

Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound

Vito

Saturday Night Live

Barbra Streisand: Becoming an Icon 1942–1984

Here's Looking At You, Warner Bros.

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

The Mirror Has Two Faces

Yentl

The Prince of Tides

Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues

Mike Wallace Is Here

Never Stop Dreaming: The Life and Legacy of Shimon Peres

Meet the Fockers

What Makes a Family

Nuts

The Owl and the Pussycat

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Real Time with Bill Maher

A Star Is Born

Up the Sandbox

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Eyes of Laura Mars

For Pete's Sake

Little Fockers

The Guilt Trip

The Main Event

Funny Lady